Juulsen earns nomination for Masterton Trophy
Noah Juulsen has always tried to stay true to himself.
That got him to the NHL, after all.
He played with a hard edge in minor hockey in Abbotsford and in junior with the Everett Silvertips. That edge drew the attention of the Montreal Canadiens, who made him the 26th overall selection in 2015.
But since then, Juulsen's story has been one of perseverance.
He played his first NHL games in the 2017-18 season, but it took six years for him to finally secure himself into a full-time NHL role — fittingly enough on his hometown team.
It's this perseverance, this dedication, that has made him the Vancouver chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association's 2024 nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, given out each year to the NHLer who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.
Teammate Carson Soucy's eyes lit up when asked about Juulsen's game.
“He plays that kind of physical brand of playoff hockey. Guys will be intimidated to go through the neutral zone. Intimidated to go to the net,” Soucy said.
Juulsen says he has stayed true to himself all along the way, but that doesn't mean it's been easy.
He made his debut with the Canadiens when he was just 20, suiting up for 23 games in the NHL during his first professional season.
But his second season didn't go anything close to plan. A month into the season, playing against the Washington Capitals, he was struck on the left side of his face with the puck. Twice.
The second caused the real damage. His left eye itself was undamaged, but his cheekbone wasn't.
“It pushed everything back, so it started with pressure on my face,” he said. He started having vision problems. He couldn't play. He met with specialist after specialist to get to the root of the problem.
“It was a mixed bag,” he said. “It went to post-concussion syndrome and so on from there.”
That, he admits, was probably the low point in his career.
“It was tough. The first little bit, you don't know what's going to happen. You don't know which way it's going to go,” he said.
Eventually his face would heal and his vision would recover. But he barely played in the 2019-20 season, just 13 games for AHL Laval.
The next season, he was picked up on waivers by the Florida Panthers and though the move south to the sunshine might have been nice from a lifestyle point of view, he barely played — just four times for the Panthers during that bizarre COVID season, and just five times for AHL Syracuse.
His career seemed stuck in neutral. But then he was able to buck the adage that you can never go home again, that even if you think a retreat to home will solve your problems, it won't because nothing remains as it was.
On the eve of the 2021-22 season, he was traded by the Panthers to the Canucks. Juulsen joined the AHL Canucks — it was, remember, the first season in Abbotsford — and found a role there and thrived.
“That's where I felt good again. I kept playing and playing. Having fun again,” he said, smiling. Timing is everything. Before he could be called back to the NHL, general manager Jim Benning and coach Travis Green were gone.
When Juulsen was finally called up, he made a quick, positive impression on new coach Bruce Boudreau.
Juulsen suited up in eight games for his hometown team that year.
He was mostly an AHLer again last season, but once again made an impression following a midseason coaching change, showing enough of an edge to intrigue new head coach Rick Tocchet.
He started this season on the NHL roster, but some early miscues put him in the press box — but this is where his dedication to hockey once again stands out. He sought out help, Tocchet said, and worked hard with assistant coaches Adam Foote and Sergei Gonchar.
Juulsen was very thankful for the interest and attention they showed toward him. Foote played a similar game to what Juulsen's is like now — hard-hitting, defensive minded, down in the trenches.
He certainly was aware of Foote's game when he was growing up, though he does admit growing up a Canucks fan meant he was more attuned to the playing style of Kevin Bieksa.
“He had that same bite to his game. He obviously was more skilled (than me), but I still liked the way he played.”
He's played in 53 games this season. A seventh defenceman can usually count on suiting up for 40 or so games in a season. Juulsen's improvement has pushed him almost into a proper sixth defenceman role. Tocchet has lamented more than once that someone has to come out of the lineup and it's hard to sit Juulsen.
“He's one of Footie's favourites because he listens,” Tocchet said recently of Juulsen. “He's a sponge. You tell him to do something, he does it. So I'm really proud of those type of guys.”
The Masterton trophy honours the memory of Bill Masterton, who died from massive head injuries sustained in a January 1968 game while playing for the Minnesota North Stars.